Kraus wins K&N West battle at Meridian
For Hub City Times
MERIDIAN, ID – Derek Kraus came out on top in a tough short-track battle at Meridian Speedway on Sept. 28, taking the victory in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West NAPA AUTO PARTS Idaho 208.
It marked the ninth career series win, and fourth victory this season for the 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford, who also has two wins this year in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition.
“We’ve been here three years in a row,” he said of the quarter-mile Idaho track, known as the Concrete Jungle. “We’ve led a lot of the laps, but something happened to let the win slip away. We finally got it done tonight. I’m really excited for my NAPA Toyota team. They worked their tails off on this race car.”
Kraus also expressed his appreciation to the fans who packed the venue.
“Thanks to all the fans that turned out tonight,” he said. “This track has never failed to pack the place. It’s really cool as a race car driver to come to a track like this.”
Kraus, who started seventh, steadily worked his way to the front and took over the lead with a pass on the outside following a restart just past the midway point of the event. He then had to hold off challenges for the lead over and over, again; with multiple cautions and restarts in the late stages of the race.
With his victory, Kraus extended his lead in the championship standings to 40 points, with three races remaining. Along with four wins, he has eight top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes in 11 series starts this season.
The Meridian race will be televised to a national audience on NBCSN on Oct. 4.
The next event on the K&N West schedule will be the NAPA AUTO PARTS / ENEOS 150 at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA, on Oct. 12.